


To Know One's Friends

by Hekate1308



Series: Children of Purgatory [18]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Season/Series 12, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-24 23:45:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12023598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hekate1308/pseuds/Hekate1308
Summary: She’d known Dad knew the demon well, she’d just underestimated how well.





	To Know One's Friends

She’d known Dad knew the demon well, she’d just underestimated how well.

The day after they’d brought Crowley to bed, she woke up to him making breakfast in the kitchen.

“I’ll take one plate full of grease to Crowley. Never admits it, but actually loves the stuff. And I’m sure he could use it”.

“Make him down a bottle of aspirin while you’re at it”.

He chuckled.

“He probably already did”.

“He’ll be fine, right?”

“Of course. He’ll probably pretend it never happened.”

That was exactly what he did when he reappeared a few hours later, looking as well groomed as usual, and they all played along.

Except for when it came to certain consequences of this new development.

“I put up stronger warding” Sam said. “Figured we don’t need to keep it down now anymore”.

“No” Crowley replied lightly, “That won’t be necessary”.

“How did you notice?” Madison asked. “Can’t imagine you just routinely drank holy water for the spice”.

“I accidentally walked into a devil’s trap” he admitted. “ _Someone_ hadn’t told me he’d put up new ones”.

Dean raised his hands. “In my defence, I was busy – “

“With something you should probably not mention in front of the children, don’t you think?” the demon said, glancing at Cas.

“That’s alright, I’m a big girl”.

“We are not discussing this in front of everyone – or period, for that matter. Or do you really want me to tell them all about last night?”

“I could think of another – “

“Anyway, so have you tested how far this goes? Is there anything that can hold you off now?” Dean asked quickly.

“I haven’t found a devil’s trap I can’t walk out of”.

“That could be an advantage” Sam decided. “Especially if the Men of letters come to America after all”.

Emma couldn’t help but think that even if they did, they would find that there was little for them here. This was their home, and they intended to stay.

* * *

 

But come to America they did.

On their next case – it was a simple salt and burn, so Dean and Sam decided to check that one out on their own, for old times’ sake – they met them.

They just sauntered up to them in a bar.

Two guys who were so aggressively British Dean could only roll his eyes.

 “Sam and Dean Winchester” he drawled. 

“Congrats. And you are?”

Arthur Ketch and Mick Davies, apparently.

Especially Ketch made his skin crawl.

He was glad Emma wasn’t here. He didn’t want his daughter within ten miles of this guy.

They soon explained their mission. Dean would have liked to counter that they had already had a taste of what they were capable off; but the knock on the head Crowley had given her had conveniently caused Lady Bevell to forget what had happened previously, and it was easier to just stick with the story that the demon had noticed her acting up and brought her back.

“So eradicate all monsters, you say?” Dean asked casually.

“Yes.”

“And what about the good ones?”

“What do you mean?” Mick Davies asked, obviously baffled.

He rolled his eyes.

“Monsters who do no harm”.

“Every monster does harm, simply by existing” Ketch said simply.

Dean remembered a time when he had thought the same. Man, was he glad he’d snapped out of that, and not just because he now had an awesome monster daughter.

“Many of them just live quietly” Sam argued. “They do what they can so they don’t have to kill. All they want is live in peace. If we don’t attack them...”

“So what? We just wait until they have grown numerous enough they can one day overthrow the humans?”

Of course this guy was a freaking conspiracy nut.

Dean rolled his eyes.

“No. The bad monsters and hunters balance each other out. Trust me; the Mother of All told us”.

Back when Cas working with Crowley was a bad thing. Oh, how the times had changed.

“Oh yes, I believe everything Mummy monster told you”.

No, Dean didn’t like this Ketch one bit.

At least Sam definitely shared his antipathy.

Dean swatted back Ketch’s hand when he tried to get at his wallet.

“Nice try”.

“You can’t blame me for seeing if you’re really as sharp as everyone says you are”.

There was a spark in his eyes that belied his words.

Dean knew exactly why he’d wanted his wallet.

Pictures. People were sentimental, and they carried pictures of their loved ones, and Ketch was eager to get all the information he could.

Not on Dean’s watch. Especially because he actually had a few pictures of his friends and family in there.

Alright, maybe more than a few... When had he got that sappy anyway? He couldn’t even positively say that Crowley wasn’t on any of them. He’d have to be more careful.

“Look” Mick Davies jumped in, obviously intent to save the conversation, “We’re just making an offer here. You can think about it and let us now”.

The last thing Dean wanted was Ketch’s phone number, but he still took his cards.

“Freaking James Bond cosplaying freaks” he muttered as they left the bar.

“They don’t exactly inspire confidence in me either”.

“Confidence? Please. Look at them in their suits – what do they think, they’ll just come in and we redneck hunters will bow and accept them as our overlords?”

Sam sighed.

“Best we could do is keep an eye on the situation. At least we have Crowley”.

Dean nodded.

“Yeah, we have”.

Sam smiled mischievously.

“You know, one day you’ll have to tell me what exactly happened between you two to put him that firmly in our camp –“

“Alright, I’m not answering that one. Ever”.

Sam snickered.

“Shut up”.

* * *

 

All in all, things weren’t going too bad. The Men of Letters soon learned that American hunters weren’t into fancy gadgets if it meant giving up their freedom; and according to Crowley, they were still weighing their options.

And even Mom was slowly making contact with them again, even dropping yb now and then to visit.

Only for them to learn that this was most likely her attempt to manipulate them.

She’d called them in on a case; a powerful demon who was hiding nearby, she said; and with their group altogether, they didn’t need any other hunters.

And they would have just walked into a Prince’s lair if Crowley hadn’t dropped in.

Quite literally. Normally, he paid attention not to show up in a too particular fashion in public, but this time, he simply materialized in the path of a waitress.

“What do you think you are doing?” he hissed while she was busy figuring out where the grumpy man had come from. Cas soothed her with a gentle smile.

“Well” Dean said, pointing at his mother who was glaring at Crowley, “Mom said that – “

“You’re after Ramiel!?”

“Who’s Ramiel?”

One quick explanation later Dean turned to look at his mother.

“did you know?”

“No” she said. “I had no idea he was that powerful”.

Dean suddenly realized he couldn’t say whether she was lying or not, and that disconcerted him to a degree he hadn’t foreseen. Cas, as always hyper aware of his mood, laid a hand on his thigh.

Emma was studying her grandmother with the sceptical look Dean recognized. He’d seen it often enough in a mirror.

“So what do we do now?” she asked.

“What do we do? Nothing” Crowley said. “Ramiel is living his life quietly, he doesn’t want to be disturbed. Trust me; when I saw him a few years ago, I almost ddin’t make it out alive”.

“Why did you visit him?” Dean asked.

“To offer him the job as the King of Hell” Crowley answered simply, and Dean couldn’t help but reflect on a time when he’d never have gotten an answer to his question, no matter what he would have done.

“He didn’t want it, and that’s how I got the gig”.

How much time did he even spend in Hell anymore? Dean certainly couldn’t recall a day when he hadn’t seen him around.

“That and...” Crowley looked down at the table.

“We brought him Michael’s Lance”.

“He has the Lance of Michael?” Cas asked.

He nodded.

“Nasty stuff. You stab someone with it, demons go puff, angels rot. Which is why I say, let’s go and forget all about him”.

“He’s a demon!” Mary argued. “Even if he’s not attacking anyone, it’s our duty to – “

“You talk about duty?” Emma replied quietly.

The table fell silent. They’d all heard the threat in her voice.

“Emma – “ Madison said at the same time as Dean began “Em – “

“No” she said simply, turning to Mary. “What do you know about duty? You walk out on yours”.

Dean understood. Emma had fought through Hell and Purgatory, just because she felt she needed to help him deal with Amara; for her, Mary wasn’t her grandmother but a woman who’d briefly touched their lives and left, hurting those she loved in the process.

“I had my reasons – “

“You wanted to have them”.

Mary stood up.

“This is going nowhere. Will you help me or not?”

They probably could take Ramiel. They had an angel, the King of Hell, an Amazon, a Werewolf, and two of the best hunters on the planet on their side.

But the question was who to trust.

And Dean knew the answer.

“No, Mom. There is no reason to go after him. Let’s leave him alone. He does no harm”.

“That is your last word?”

Dean looked around the table.

No one spoke up.

“It is”.

“I see. Sorry for calling you in”.

She left with a short greeting.

It didn’t hurt as much as last time.

“She’s not stupid” Crowley said, “She won’t risk attacking him alone”.

Dean could only agree.

Mary Winchester had turned out to be many things, but stupid wasn’t one of them.

In the flurry of their exit of the diner (the waitress seemed rather glad to get rid of them) no one but Madison noticed Emma drawing Crowley to the side, and she knew better than to speak up.

“Crowley...” Emma said quietly. “Do you think you could check the data of the Men of Letters without them noticing?”

“Yes. Is there something specific you want me to look for?”

He knew. Of course he did.

“Whether they have any hunter allies in the United States”.

He nodded and vanished. 

* * *

 

Later that night, Crowley knocked on Dean’s and Cas’ door.

“You both decent?”

“As a matter of fact, yes”.

A disappointed groan was the answer.

“Come in, Crowley” Dean said.

They’d actually been cuddling and reading on the bed.

The demon entered.

“So” he said. Then he hesitated.

“What is it?”

Crowley almost looked... hesitant?

“I had an idea, so I snooped through the Men of Letter’s files... and it turns out one American hunter joined them”.

Dean’s heart sank.

“Mom”.

It wasn’t a question.

Crowley nodded.

“How much did she know about Ramiel?” Dean asked. Cas took his hand.

“Not nearly enough to send her in, in my opinion. She didn’t know how dangerous he is”.

That was something, at least.

God knew what would have happened if they’d gone in.

“So what now?” he asked.

“We know she’s working with them, but Mary doesn’t” Cas said. “That could be useful”.

He was rubbing circles    Dean’s lower back; and it was at this moment that he decided he had enough. Yes, his mother had come back and he’d been overjoyed; but she’d also left them and was working with the enemy, while his family had been ready to welcome her with open arms.

“True” he said. “Let’s just hope they don’t decide she’s a liability”.

“Don’t worry about that, I can easily arrange it so that she’s seen as a vital part in bringing other hunters around” Crowley replied.

“Thanks”.

He shrugged.

“We all have to do what we can”.

What strange words, coming from a demon.

He vanished for a second before reappearing.

“Oh, by the way, I wasn’t the only one who suspected your mother. Emma did too. Fiendishly clever, that one”.

He disappeared again.

Dean chuckled.

“That’s my girl”.

“She is indeed” Cas agreed as he drew him into a kiss.


End file.
